Wide cut rotary header having crop conveying slinger

ABSTRACT

A harvesting header has a crop conveying element fixed to an outboard cutter of a cutter bed. The crop conveying element includes at least one slinger attached to an upstanding spacer to space the slinger apart from a top wall of the cutter. The slinger includes a flat disc with a plurality of lobes extending outwardly from a central portion thereof and the spacer is shorter than impeller such that a top extremity of the slinger is spaced below an upper level of an outer impeller. The spacer is also smaller in diameter than the outer impeller so as to provide a space below the slinger allow flow of the crop material over the second outboard cutter, the space between the top wall of the cutter and the slinger being at least half of the height between a lower disc member and upper stationary grass ring of the outer impeller.

RELATED APPLICATION

Under provisions of 35 U.S.C. §119(e), Applicants claim the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/097,710, entitled Wide Cut RotaryHeader Having Crop Conveying Slinger and filed Dec. 30, 2014, which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

This invention relates to crop harvesting machines of the type that userotary cutters to sever standing crops from the field and then conditionthe cut crop between one or more sets of conditioning rolls beforedepositing the crop back onto the ground in the form of a windrow orswath and more particularly, it relates to wide cut machines in whichthe cutting width is greater than the width of a central opening leadingto the conditioning rolls such that crop materials cut outboard of theopening is moved inwardly from the outboard cutters with a cropconveying slinger.

2. Description of Related Art

Wide cut rotary harvesters present inherent challenges in gettingoutboard severed crop materials to flow smoothly and without hesitationin a lateral direction toward the center of the machine before thenturning rearwardly and moving through the central discharge opening intothe conditioner rolls. Any hesitation on the part of the crop materialsas they “turn the corner” and move rearwardly into the conditioner rollscan cause a number of significant problems, both in the quality of thefinished windrows and the quality of cutoff being achieved by the rotarycutters. Due to the increased speeds at which rotary harvesters cantravel compared to that of sickle-type machines, cutoff, feeding andcontrol problems are exacerbated in rotary machines due to thedramatically increased volume of cut material flowing through themachines.

In one preferred rotary cutter bed design, a group of inboard cutters ofthe bed are arranged with their axes of rotation directly in front ofthe conditioner rolls. At least one, and preferably two, additionaloutboard cutters are provided at each end of the bed and have their axesof rotation located outboard of the conditioning structure. The outboardcutters both rotate in the same direction, with their front extremitiesmoving generally inwardly toward the center of the machine to conveyoutboard cut materials toward the inboard cutters. Most of the cuttersof the inboard group are arranged in oppositely rotating pairs withother cutters of the group such that cut crop materials from the pairedcutters in the inboard group are directed straight back into theconditioner rolls in a number of streams.

As the crops are cut and moved toward the crop conditioner opening, thevolume of crop increases as it approaches the conditioning rolls. As thecrop volume increases, it can have a tendency to be compressed in thehorizontal direction and expand in the vertical direction. As this cropexpands in the vertical direction, there can be a hesitation at theupper support structure. As a result of this hesitation, crop flows intothe conditioner rolls in a non-uniform manor. The result of thisnon-uniform flow is evident in the form of slugs, over-conditioned crop,and a bunchy swath or windrow. These conditions present drying issuesalong with poor quality hay in bales.

Overview of the Invention

In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a harvesting headerhaving a set of centrally disposed conditioner rolls comprisingconditioning structure to condition crop and a rotary cutter bed. Therotary cutter bed has a plurality of rotary cutters extending across thepath of travel of the header to define a cutting plane. Each cutter isrotatable about an upright axis, and the conditioner rolls are locatedbehind the cutter bed to condition crop cut by the rotary cutter bed.The plurality of rotary cutters include a set of inboard cuttersdisposed inboard of the lateral limits of the conditioning structure onconditioner rolls and a set of outboard cutters on either side of theconditioner rolls disposed outboard of the conditioning structure onconditioner rolls. The set of outboard cutters on each side of thecutter bed includes an outermost outboard cutter and a second outboardcutter adjacent the outermost outboard cutter.

An outer impeller is fixed to the outermost outboard cutter for rotationtherewith to convey cut crop material laterally inwardly toward thecenter of the header. The outer impeller has a lower disc member formingthe bottom of an impeller cage and an upper stationary grass ring. Anintermediate impeller is located between the axes of rotation of the twooutboard cutters, wherein the intermediate cage-like impeller issuspended on the harvesting header above the cutting plane and not fixedto any of the cutters and rotates in the same direction as the outboardimpeller.

A crop conveying element is fixed to the second outboard cutter forrotation therewith. The crop conveying element includes at least oneslinger attached to an upstanding spacer to space the slinger apart froma top wall of the second outboard cutter, wherein the slinger includes aflat disc with a plurality of lobes extending outwardly from a centralportion thereof and wherein the spacer is shorter than impeller suchthat a top extremity of the slinger is spaced below an upper level ofthe outer impeller. The spacer is also smaller in diameter than theouter impeller so as to provide a space below the slinger allow flow ofthe crop material over the second outboard cutter, the space between thetop wall of the cutter and the slinger being at least half of the heightbetween the lower disc and upper stationary grass ring of the outerimpeller.

These and other features and advantages of this invention are describedin, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of variousexemplary embodiments of the systems and methods according to thisinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above mentioned and other features of this invention will becomemore apparent and the invention itself will be better understood byreference to the following description of embodiments of the inventiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a left front perspective view of a self-propelled windrowerexemplifying one type of harvesting machine that may employ a rotarycutter header in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, front perspective view of the right end portionof the header with structure removed to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front perspective view of the right end portion ofthe header with structure removed to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front perspective view of another embodiment ofthe right end portion of the header with structure removed to revealdetails of construction;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the header with portionsthereof removed to reveal details of construction; and

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the header with covering portionsthereof removed.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The invention will now be described in the following detaileddescription with reference to the drawings, wherein preferredembodiments are described in detail to enable practice of the invention.Although the invention is described with reference to these specificpreferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is notlimited to these preferred embodiments. But to the contrary, theinvention includes numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalentsas will become apparent from consideration of the following detaileddescription.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, the harvester selected for illustrationin that figure comprises a self-propelled windrower 10 operable to mowand collect standing crop in the field, condition the cut material as itmoves through the machine to improve its drying characteristics, andthen return the conditioned material to the field in a windrow or swath.Windrower 10 includes a chassis or frame 12 supported by a pair of frontdrive wheels 14, 16 and a pair of rear caster wheels 18 (only the leftrear caster wheel 18 being illustrated) for movement across a field tobe harvested. Frame 12 carries a cab 20, within which an operatorcontrols operation of windrower 10, and a rearwardly spaced compartment22 that houses a power source (not shown) such as an internal combustionengine. A harvesting header 24 is supported on the front of frame 12 ina manner well understood by those skilled in the art.

With reference to the remaining figures, header 24 includes a rotarycutter bed 26 across the front of the machine that serves as the meansby which standing crops are severed as the windrower advances across afield. In the illustrated embodiment, cutter bed 26 includes a series ofrotary cutters 28 extending across the path of travel of the machine,each cutter 28 being rotatable about its own upright axis. In oneembodiment, the cutter bed 26 has ten rotary cutters 28 across the widthof the cutter bed. However, a larger or smaller number of cutters 28could be provided. For the sake of convenience, the cutters 28 in FIG. 2are denoted by the numerals 28 a-28 f, beginning with the rightmostcutter 28 as viewed from the rear of the machine. While FIG. 2illustrates one side of the cutter bed 26, it will be understood thatthe opposing side of the header 24 may be of a design that is asubstantial mirror image of the illustrated side.

In the illustrated embodiment, header 24 has a set of centrally disposedconditioner rolls 29 behind the cutter bed 26. The axes of rotation ofcutters 28 c-28 f are all disposed inboard of the lateral limitsconditioning structure on rolls 29 such that those cutters may bedescribed as a group of “inboard” cutters. On the other hand, the axesof rotation of cutters 28 a and 28 b are all disposed outboard of theconditioning structure on rolls 29 such that those cutters may bedescribed as “outboard” cutters. While the illustrated embodiment has aset or pair of outboard cutters on each side, other embodiments mayutilize more or fewer outboard cutters. An exemplary cutter bed 26 andset of conditioner rolls 29 is illustrated in commonly assigned U.S.Pat. No. 7,726,108.

Header 24 is constructed in such a way as to present a pair of upright,laterally spaced apart panels 30 behind cutter bed 26 that define a cropconditioning region in which the set of conditioning rolls 29 islocated. The front extremities of panels 30 cooperate to in part definelateral boundaries of an opening 32. In the illustrated embodiment, theset of rolls 29 includes two pairs of cooperating conditioner rolls 29,although a single pair or more than two pairs could be utilized withoutdeparting from the principles of the present invention. Conditionerrolls 29 may assume a variety of configurations without departing fromthe principles of the present invention. For example, the rolls couldall be hard, metal rolls, or some could be softer rolls havingcompressible outer surfaces. While different conditioning actions areachievable with different roll configurations and materials, theparticular choice of such configurations and materials is not criticalinsofar as the present inventive concepts are concerned. In allinstances, however, the conditioner rolls will have some kind ofconditioning structure on their outermost peripheral surfaces, whethersuch surfaces are ribbed, grooved or smooth, for example. As conditionerrolls 29 are well known in the art, they need not be discussed furtherherein.

As is known in the art, cutters are arranged in oppositely rotatingpairs such as the pair 28 b, 28 c and the pair 28 d, 28 e. One cutter ofeach pair rotates in a counterclockwise direction viewing FIG. 2, andthe other rotates in a clockwise direction viewing that same figure.Thus, using the paired cutters 28 b and 28 c as an example, cutter 28 brotates in a counterclockwise direction while 28 c rotates in aclockwise direction. While paired cutters 28 d, 28 e of the inboardgroup cooperate with other inboard cutters, the end cutter 28 c in thegroup cooperate with outboard cutter 28 b. Thus, each of the first andlast pairs of oppositely rotating cutters comprises a “mixed” pair ofcooperating cutters consisting of one inboard cutter and one outboardcutter.

Each pair of oppositely rotating cutters 28 sends a stream of severedmaterial rearwardly between them as the machine moves through the fieldof standing crop. The outermost outboard cutter 28 a rotates in the samedirection as the inwardly adjacent outboard cutter 28 b. Thus, outermostoutboard cutter 28 a rotates in a counterclockwise direction viewingFIG. 2. Consequently, crop material cut by outboard cutters 28 a, 28 bis thrown laterally inwardly across the front of the machine to theoverlap region between 28 b and 28 c where it is swept rearwardly.

Cutters 28 a-28 f are rotatably supported on an elongated, flat gearcase 33 that extends underneath the cutters for the full effective widthof header 24 and driven by one or more hydraulic motor (not shown) aswill be understood by one skilled in the art. Additionally, each of thecutters 28 includes a generally elliptical, formed metal knife carrier34, such as illustrated by the cutters 28 a and 28 b in FIG. 5, and apair of free-swinging knives 36 at opposite ends of carrier 34 in awell-known manner. The circular paths of travel of the knives 36 ofadjacent cutters 28 overlap one another.

As is known in the art, the outermost outboard cutter 28 a is providedwith an upright, generally cylindrical, cage-like impeller 38 fixed toits corresponding carrier 34 for rotation therewith. Impeller 38 helpsconvey cut crop materials laterally inwardly toward the center of theheader 24. An intermediate, depending, upright, cage-like impeller 40 islocated inwardly beside impeller 38 generally centrally between the axesof rotation of the two outboard cutters 28 a, 28 b. In the illustratedembodiment, the impeller 40 is not fixed to any of the cutters, but isinstead suspended by overhead structure not shown above the cuttingplane of knives 36 for rotation in the same direction as the adjacentoutboard impeller 38. The bottom extremity of impeller 40 is spaced ashort distance above the cutting plane of the knives 36. In theillustrated embodiment, outboard impeller 38 is formed with lower,middle and upper discs 42, 43, 44. An upper stationary grass ring 48(FIG. 6) is positioned around an upper portion of the outboard impeller38 to protect the upper portion of the outboard impeller 38.

According to the invention, at least one crop conveying element 50 isfixed to the inner outboard cutter 28 b for rotation therewith. The cropconveying element 50 includes at least one slinger 52 spaced apart froma top wall 54 of the cutter 28 b. FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment witha base 56 mounted adjacent the top wall 54 of the cutter 28 b and singleslinger 52 attached to a short, upstanding, generally cylindrical spacer58. The spacer 58 is shorter than impeller 38 such that a top extremity60 of the slinger 52 is spaced below an upper level 62 of the outerimpeller 38. The spacer 58 is smaller in diameter than the impeller 38to provide a space S below the slinger 52 so as to not impede thenatural flow of the crop material over the cutter 28 b. FIG. 4illustrates an embodiment with two slingers 52 attached to the spacer58. Both slingers 52 are positioned in the upper portion of the spacer58 so as to preserve the crop-passing space S between the lower-mostslinger 52 and the cutter 28 b.

In one embodiment, the slinger 52 is a generally flat disc with aplurality of lobes 64 extending outwardly from a central portion 66thereof. As best seen in FIG. 5, the illustrated slinger 52 has fourlobes 64 positioned equidistant around the circumference of the slinger52. However, more or fewer lobes 64 can be used. Fewer lobes 64 havebeen found to provide more aggressive feeding. Desirably, the slinger 52has a thickness of between about 0.2 to 0.5 inches (0.5 to 1.3 cm).

As best seen in FIG. 6, desirably the lower-most slinger 52 ispositioned on the spacer 58 such that the space S between the top wall54 of the cutter 28 b and the lower-most slinger 52 is at least half ofthe height between the lower and upper discs 42, 44 of the impeller 38so as to preserve the crop-passing space S between the lower-mostslinger 52 and the cutter 28 b. In the embodiment with just a singleslinger 52, the lone slinger 52 is positioned above this mid-height ofthe impeller 38.

The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspectsand features of the present invention. These should be construed to bemerely illustrative of some of the more prominent features andapplications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtainedby applying the disclosed information in a different manner or bymodifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and amore comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained byreferring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1. A harvesting header comprising: a set of centrally disposedconditioner rolls comprising conditioning structure to condition crop; arotary cutter bed comprising: a plurality of rotary cutters extendingacross the path of travel of the header to define a cutting plane, eachcutter being rotatable about an upright axis, the conditioner rollsbeing behind the cutter bed to condition crop cut by the rotary cutterbed, wherein the plurality of rotary cutters comprises a set of inboardcutters disposed inboard of the lateral limits of the conditioningstructure on conditioner rolls and a set of outboard cutters on eitherside of the conditioner rolls disposed outboard of the conditioningstructure on conditioner rolls, wherein the set of outboard cutters oneach side of the cutter bed comprises an outermost outboard cutter and asecond outboard cutter adjacent the outermost outboard cutter, an outerimpeller fixed to the outermost outboard cutter for rotation therewithto convey cut crop material laterally inwardly toward the center of theheader, the outer impeller having a lower disc member forming the bottomof an impeller cage and an upper stationary grass ring; an intermediateimpeller located between the axes of rotation of said two outboardcutters, wherein the intermediate cage-like impeller is suspended on theharvesting header above the cutting plane and not fixed to any of thecutters and rotates in the same direction as the outboard impeller; anda crop conveying element fixed to the second outboard cutter forrotation therewith, the crop conveying element comprising at least oneslinger attached to an upstanding spacer to space the slinger apart froma top wall of the second outboard cutter, wherein the slinger comprisesa flat disc with a plurality of lobes extending outwardly from a centralportion thereof and wherein the spacer is shorter than impeller suchthat a top extremity of the slinger is spaced below an upper level ofthe outer impeller, and wherein the spacer is smaller in diameter thanthe outer impeller so as to provide a space below the slinger allow flowof the crop material over the second outboard cutter, said space betweenthe top wall of the cutter and the slinger being at least half of theheight between the lower disc and upper stationary grass ring of theouter impeller.
 2. The harvesting header of claim 1 wherein the secondset of outboard cutters comprises a pair of outboard cutters on eachside of the conditioner rolls.
 3. The harvesting header of claim 1wherein a bottom extremity of the intermediate impeller is spaced ashort distance above the cutting plane of the cutters.
 4. The harvestingheader of claim 1 wherein the outboard impeller is formed with lower,middle and upper discs.
 5. The harvesting header of claim 1 wherein thecrop conveying element comprises two slingers attached to the spacer,one slinger spaced below the other slinger, wherein both slingers arepositioned in the upper portion of the spacer so as to preserve thecrop-passing space between the lower-most slinger and the inner outboardcutter.
 6. The harvesting header of claim 1 wherein the slingercomprises four lobes positioned equidistant around the circumference ofthe slinger.
 7. The harvesting header of claim 1 wherein the slinger ispositioned above this mid-height of the outer impeller.